322 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



abnormal." Now, the herbarium of the South Pacific Exploring Ex- 

 joedition contains good flowering specimens of what I cannot doubt is 

 Gaudichaud's L. fagrceoidea (notwithstanding two discrepancies in the 

 details which are probably due to mistakes of the artist), and fruiting 

 specimens of another and nearly related species, which negative both 

 these presumptions, while they reveal the true affinity of the genus. 

 That is to say, in our flowering plant the lobes of the corolla in aesti- 

 vation decidedly, though narrowly, overlap in the convolute manner, 

 and are slightly twisted towards the observer's left. Probably the 

 flower-buds examined by Bureau were too young to show the nestiva- 

 tion properly. Also our fruiting plant is tricarpellary, in all the speci- 

 mens we possess, and, which is of more consequence, the fruit is a 

 capsule, just like that of Geniostoma, except in being trimerous, — the 

 placentos equally pulpy, and the seeds nidulant. Lahordea, therefore, 

 ranks next to Geniostoma, from which, so far as these materials show, 

 it would seem to be very well distinguished by its Gtertneroid habit, 

 the long and foliaceous divisions of the calyx, the tubular (instead of 

 rotate-campanulate) corolla, the elongated club-shaped (instead of glo- 

 bose or didymous) stigma, and the terminal inflorescence. The occa- 

 sional, if not the usual, tricarpellary ovary is at most a subsidiary dis- 

 tinction. It is not constant in L. fagrceoidea, and it can hardly be 

 expected to be so in the allied species. But the same collection (and 

 also Remy's, of later date) has supplied complete materials of a third 

 species, which almost exactly fills the interval between these two genera. 

 For, with the general habit and foliage, and the dicarpellary ovary of 

 Geniostoma, it combines the hypocrateriform corolla, the clavate stigma, 

 and the terminal inflorescence of Lahordea. The form of the corolla, 

 taken with that of the stigma, will surely outweigh that of the calyx, 

 and the terminal inflorescence affords a better distinction than the oc- 

 casionally trimerous gynnscium. So we must annex this ambiguous 

 species to Lahordea, unless we merge the latter genus in Geniostoma, 

 which at present would hardly be warranted. The known species 

 are : — 



Labordea (Geniostomoides) tinifolia {Gray, I. c.) : glaber- 

 rima ; ramis gracilibos ; foliis oblongis chartaceis longiuscule petiolatis ; 

 cyma pedunculata composita laxiflora ; calycis segmentis triangulari- 

 ovatis acutissimis tubo coroUoe hypocraterimorpha? triple brevioribus ; 

 stylo gracili ; stigmate elongato-clavato ; capsula globosa bivalvi. — 



